Christmas Downtown

We made our annual trip downtown this afternnon. It was also an afternoon of firsts, though. They were giving free carriage rides outside of Macy's, so we waited a few minutes and then hopped on. We had never done this with the girls before. Olivia was in her glory!!! The three girls even got to ride up front with the driver!! We saw Santa at Macy's and then walked to the train display at the Duke Energy building, but it was closed. (I think the girls were happy.) We made it back to Fountain Square and Dan, Grace, Olivia, and Emma went ice skating. It was Emma's first time! I was the official picture taker. I don't know who had more fun, them or me laughing at them going around and Emma saying, "I got it. I got it.", and then falling. It was a real hoot!!! Olivia was much improved from the last time we went, considering I couldn't let go of her last time. Many great memories were made this afternoon!

The girls waiting for the carriage.

The girls on the carriage ride. I love Olivia's face!

Helping each other out in the beginning.

"Hey, Ma! Look at me!"

This is one of my favorites-Emma looks like she is hanging on for dear life!

Zion Christmas Program

This morning was the annual Zion Sunday School Christmas program. Olivia was a wiseman (wisewoman), Emma was a pig, and Grace read part of the Christmas story during the program. Olivia also played "We Three Kings of Orient Are" on the piano, which I thought was fitting since she was one of the kings.

Don't you just love the beard?

Always smiling!

Breakfast with Santa at Zion

Saturday was breakfast with Santa at our church. Here are a few shots:

"Really, Santa?"

"It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas"

We awoke Saturday morning to a winter wonderland. It was so beautiful!!! When Dan opened Olivia's shade in her room to show her the snow, we discovered we had six visitors in our back yard!

Holiday Preparations

The past week or so has been busy at home and at school preparing for Christmas. Grace had a violin concert last week as well as a chorus concert. Emma was asked to help play the jingle bells at Grace's violin concert. She was so excited, and had been asking me for weeks when the big day was. As you can see from the pictures, she loves to perform! On Friday night, we made gingerbread houses. Instead of making just one, we tried a minature village this year, so we each had our own house to decorate. It worked out well, and we even have a nice little display on the shelf in between the family room and the kitchen now.

Can you tell she was in her glory?

This is what Emma did best-eating the icing!

The Biggest News from Thanksgiving!

I was in such a hurry trying to update my posting last night, that I forgot the biggest news of the Thanksgiving holiday! I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT AGAIN! (Can you hear me whooping and hollaring all the way down here in Cincinnati?) We all have so much to be thankful this year, but the blessing of Drew and Steph expecting is something that we are all especially thankful for. I can hardly wait to hold that little bundle of joy!!! Congratulations Drew and Steph!!! You all are going to make wonderful parents! God has truly blessed you!

The Perfect Tree

We found the perfect tree! (Of course, I say that every year!) We got a big one-so big, Dan had to get the ladder out to put the star on the top! The girls had fun dragging it in and having their hot chocolate. It's always so much fun to go out to Sugar Tree Farms!

"Your're almost there, girls!"

Festival of Lights '09

We headed over to the zoo Friday night for the festival of lights Friday night to help kick off the holiday season. We enjoyed all the lights, a train ride, and a 4-D movie! We saw parts of the Polar Express in 4D, which was so cool!! You could smell the hot chocolate and the Christmas tree, feel Santa poke you in the back when he cracked his whip, it snowed, and water even hit you in the face when the train screetched to a halt and the ice went flying. It was quite an experience. I wish I could have captured the excitement on Olivia's face. It was priceless!!!

Emma was looking a little tired by the time we got to the train.

Daddy and Mommy's annual train picture. Thanks, Livi!

Thanksgiving in Michigan

We headed up to Grammy and Papa's for Thanksgiving. It was a great weekend, as usual! The dinner was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family. We made a trip to Bronner's, which is sure to put anyone in the Christmas spirit, and we even surprised Papa with a 60th birthday party! What great memories!!!

Audrey telling me the letters on the blocks. She is amazing!!!

After dinner entertainment-a play written by the Hamilton girls and starring all the cousins!

Halloween

We had some massive pumpkins to carve thanks to Great Grandpa Simmons! In fact, Emma's was so big, she could barely reach the bottom of it when she was standing on the chair! The girls had a great time going out trick-or-treating. We split our time between our old neighborhood and our new one. Olivia went over to her friend's for dinner and then went around with her for a little bit before joining up with us. Grammy was with us, too! (She was a huge help with the spa party!) She held down the fort at the new house while we made the rounds. We figured it wouldn't look good if we were the new kids on the block and didn't pass out any candy. Emma was particulary thrilled with the Reeses Peanut butter cups! I think she ate about 10 last night alone! It was a great night with a beautiful full moon! (Spooky!!!!!)

Grace's Birthday Party (Belated)

Friday night we finally got around to having Grace's 10th birthday party. We had ten 10 year olds over for a spa/sleepover! We did nails, facials, ate pizza, decorated cupcakes, and each girl even designed and decorated their own pillowcases to take home. The girls had a blast (we did, too!) Grace has done a really great job picking out her friends! They are a great group of girls and it was a very enjoyable evening!

"What's in this stuff, mom?"

A little "American Idol" in the morning before everyone left.

Emma's First "Real" Playdate

Emma had her friend Ava over this morning for her first "real" playdate. She informs me all the time that Grace and Olivia have friends over, but she never does. Ava is in her Sunday School class and I know her mom quiet well, so it finally worked out that she could have someone over. Emma acts like I could just have someone we don't know that well. I mean, come one, she is only 4!!! She has had plenty of play dates with mommy's friends kids that are younger than her, but this was her first official playdate. They seemed to have a good time playing house, making a big Halloween Banner that read "HBPONWEMObvp" (Happy Halloween), and making cookies. We ate some lunch, played a game of Shutes and Ladders, and took Ava home just in time for Emma's nap. Wow! It was an eventful morning!!!